14-Year-Old Racer Ready for Big Late Model Stock Event on October 16th
LOUISVILLE, KY (October 7th, 2011) – During the 2011 racing season, 14-year-old Kentucky native Ben Rhodes spent the majority of his year racing in the Legends Young Lions division across the country. With 43 victories, more than any of the 1200 Legends drivers in the country during the 2011 season, Rhodes started his transition to Late Model racing with Jamie Yelton’s Fat Head Racing. After a successful start, Rhodes will now enter the fourth-annual Dwight Huffman Memorial event, a 177-lap race at Hickory Motor Speedway (NC).
“I am looking forward to racing in the Dwight Huffman Memorial event at Hickory Motor Speedway,” said Rhodes. “Jamie Yelton, Lee McCall and the entire Fat Head Racing team has been great to work with this year, and we are all excited to head back to Hickory and see what we can do in the long race there.”
At the end of May, Rhodes headed to the historic North Carolina track to test a Late Model Stock with Fat Head Racing. After a few successful test sessions, Rhodes entered his first feature in the bigger cars in Late July, qualifying 11th and finishing a solid seventh. In his second event, Rhodes continued learning from behind the wheel, qualifying ninth and finishing fourth. In his latest Late Model Stock feature, he timed in third fastest, and was able to drive it to a fourth-place finish against more experienced racers.
“It has been a great experience this year with Jamie, Lee and the guys,” explained Rhodes. “We are able to communicate back and forth with each other real well, which has helped with our performance improving every week. The experience Jamie and Lee bring to the track has been very educational for me. I couldn’t have a better group of guys helping me progress my racing career.”
Rhodes’ performance on the track grabbed the attention of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Marcos Ambrose, who attended one of his test sessions. Rhodes has signed with Marcos Ambrose Motorsport for 2012, racing the full United Auto Racing Association (UARA) STARS Late Model Stock season. Ambrose will be racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway (NC) the night before Rhodes’ big Hickory event.
“Marcos has been a great help already with advice and support. I am going to try and make it down to Charlotte after I qualify on Saturday so I can support his racing before heading back to Hickory on Sunday for my race.”
Practice for the Dwight Huffman Memorial 177-lap Late Model Stock event at Hickory Motor Speedway (NC) will take place on Friday, October 14th and Saturday, October 15th, with qualifying scheduled around 3PM Eastern on Saturday. Feature racing will start just after 2:30PM on Sunday. For more information on the event, visit www.hickorymotorspeedway.com or www.dwighthuffmanmemorial.com.
For more information on Ben Rhodes, please contact Jason “Stix” Buckley of STIX FX ENTERTAINMENT at (704) 519-5528 or [email protected], and make sure to keep up to date on Ben Rhodes’ racing career at www.benrhodesmotorsports.com.